State College football has its biggest test yet on Friday. Meet their PIAA playoffs opponent
With just one Centre County team left in the playoffs, Friday night will bring all eyes to State College.
The 12-0 Little Lions will host 11-1 North Allegheny on Black Friday in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals. State College hasn’t yet played a team with a winning record like North Allegheny, and it comes on the heels of a close matchup against McDowell that resulted in a 57-50 win last Friday.
Here’s what to know about State College and their opponent, the North Allegheny Tigers.
North Allegheny (11-1) at State College (12-0)
Time: 7 p.m. Friday
Coaches: Art Walker (North Allegheny), Matt Lintal (State College)
Players to Watch: QB Logan Kushner (North Allegheny), RB/OLB Andrew Gavlik (North Allegheny), LB Kevin O’Donnell (North Allegheny), WR/DB Khiryn Boyd (North Allegheny), WR/DB Anthony Varlotta (North Allegheny), QB/WR Finn Furmanek (State College), RB D’Antae Sheffey (State College), LB JW Scott (State College), WR/CB Donte Nastasi (State College), TE/DE Stephen Scourtis (State College), DL Justin Castro-Fields (State College), entire offensive line
Last Meeting: N/A
The Skinny: The Tigers will be the most formidable opponent that State College has faced yet, though the same could be said for McDowell last Friday. North Allegheny blazed through the WPIAL 6A Tri-County Five Conference with a perfect 4-0 record against Canon-McMillan (Sept. 2, 35-21), Central Catholic (Sept. 23, 7-3), Mt. Lebanon (Oct. 7, 20-6) and Seneca Valley (Oct. 28, 27-26) during the regular season.
When heading into the postseason, North Allegheny shut out Canon-McMillan 7-0 on Nov. 11 and followed up with a 35-21 victory over Central Catholic in the WPIAL Football Championship Game on Nov. 19. The Tigers are on a six-game winning streak and are 4-1 on the road. Their lone road loss came against Pine-Richland in a 28-17 game on Sept. 30. They also defeated McDowell on Sept. 9 by a score of 29-18.
North Allegheny’s Logan Kushner solidified the starter role at quarterback prior to his sophomore season. Passing for 928 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions, along with 131 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, the Tigers expected big things coming into his junior season.
After developing over the offseason, Kushner improved — passing for 1,189 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. While he has just 66 rushing yards this season, he’s more than made up for it by scoring five touchdowns through nine games.
Running back Andrew Gavlik averages over 100 yards on the ground. Kevin O’Donnell is a menacing tackler from the linebacker position. Wide receiver Khiryn Boyd is a weapon that Kushner relies on plenty, with seven touchdown grabs through nine games. Anthony Varlotta also provides a safety valve for Kushner to hit in the passing game.
While it won’t be an easy matchup for the Little Lions, their 12-0 record has shown that they can win the hard matchups.
State College is coming off the victory over McDowell that was a three-overtime game. In the marathon, Little Lions senior quarterback Finn Furmanek completed 16-of-25 (64%) passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman running back D’Antae Sheffey had 15 carries for 148 yards and two touchdowns, along with senior running back Matt Wall’s 15 rushes for 50 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore wide receiver Michael Gaul had two catches for 32 yards and two touchdowns and senior wideout Donte Nastasi added two carries for 12 rushing yards and two touchdowns to go with five grabs for 69 yards.
John Brighton, Michael Dincher, Logan Milito, Thomas Dincher, Sam Mayer and Colin Dardis played intensely on the offensive line. The group paved the way for 239 yards on the ground, averaging 5.3 yards per carry and the running backs scored six touchdowns.
Defensively, State College has two strong edge rushers in Stephen Scourtis and JW Scott, along with the interior presence of Justin Castro-Fields at defensive tackle.
State College has come a long way since its 8-6 season last year. The team hasn’t yet lost a game, has outscored opponents 473-205 on the season and is 6-0 at home. The Little Lions average 6.8 yards per carry, rushing for 239.5 yards per game, amassing 2,874 yards and 44 touchdowns on the ground. State College’s defense has 26.5 sacks on the year, 38 quarterback hurries and 12 interceptions on the season.
